The men’s basketball team has cracked the Top 25 in the d3hoops.com national poll of NCAA Div. III teams. The Judges, who defeated the University of Chicago and then-13th-ranked Washington University on the road last weekend, check in at No. 19 in their first appearance in the poll since 2011.
With a record of 14-2, the Judges already have surpassed their win total from that season.

The successful Midwest road trip improved the team’s University Athletic Association(UAA) record to 5-0.

Brandeis defeated Chicago, 59-55, on Friday night and Washington U., 69-62, on Sunday afternoon to complete just the sixth road sweep of those two teams in UAA history. In both contests, Brandeis rallied from a halftime deficit – 10 points against the Maroons and four points against the Bears.

Against Chicago, junior guard Gabriel Moton, a transfer from Boston College, scored seven of his game-high 14 points in the first 5:21 of the second half as the Judges closed to within one point. Classmate forward Alex Stoyle scored eight of his 12 points in the final five minutes, including the go-ahead bucket on a fast-break with 4:30 remaining. Moton also had eight rebounds and five assists against UC.

In the win over Washington University, Moton and junior guard Derek Retos were the stars. The Judges handed the Bears just their seventh loss in the last 100 games when they were leading at halftime and just their 13th home loss in the previous 13 seasons. Retos scored all of his game-high 23 points in the second half, hitting seven of 10 overall and six of nine from 3-point range, becoming the seventh player in Brandeis history with 150 career 3-pointers. Moton added 14 second-half points, including the game-winning three-pointer with 1:19 left in the contest and the shot clock winding down.

Overall this season, Moton leads the Judges in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game, seventh in the UAA. He also tops the team in rebounds with 6.4 per game, sixth in the UAA) and in assists with 3.9 per game, also 6th in the UAA. Retos’s 11.1 points per game are second on the team and 17th in the UAA.

The Judges’ calling card this season has been their defense. They lead the conference in scoring defense with 60.9 points per game allowed, field goal percentage defense (38.6 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (31.4 percent).

The Judges return to UAA road action this weekend, traveling to Emory University in Atlanta Friday night, Jan. 25, then to New York State for showdown with the University of Rochester, ranked No. 2 in the latest d3hoops.com poll, Sunday at noon. Brandeis’ next home games with be Feb. 1 versus Emory and Feb. 3 versus Rochester.